


Swim Slowly

by jeouzz



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: A Lot of Plot, Angst and Feels, Canon Compliant, Character Death, Communication Issues, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun-centric, M/M, Nakamoto Yuta-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Zombie Apocalypse, kinda past jaeyong, minor taeten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23736031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeouzz/pseuds/jeouzz
Summary: He closed his eyes, for the first time in hours. He was so afraid to think, to remember that the last words he shared with Yuta were “maybe this was a mistake.”
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Nakamoto Yuta, Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 71





	1. Mask

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS:
> 
> \- Read under your own risk. It may contain some triggering scenes, not that explicit tho. But people will die.  
> \- Slow updates. Uni someimes consumes me but I'll try to update as faster as I can.  
> \- English isn't my first languaje, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar mistake. (If you find one, please, tell me! so I can fix it<3)  
> \- Idk if this is necessary but, yeah, it's canon compliant but of course I'm going to change some things in order to fit the story :)
> 
> That's all, enjoy.

He closed his eyes, for the first time in hours. He was so afraid to think, to remember that the last words he shared with Yuta were “maybe this was a mistake.” 

_“What... do you mean with ‘this’?” Jaehyun stared at the floor, he couldn’t look at him in the eyes anymore._

_“Us,” Jaehyun replied, “I mean us. Maybe we were a mistake from the beginning.”_

Jaehyun couldn't feel his legs. His mind was only focused on the strong grip on his right hand, on Taeyong's exasperated back running in front of him and on his own heart beating faster than ever on his chest. _What was that? What the fuck was that?_ Were the only words that crossed his mind. They reached the third floor, that’s what he noticed when he saw the number “3” at the top of the door that led out of the emergency stairs. But Jaehyun didn’t want to think about it, too preoccupied about reaching the top of the building, of not letting go the trembling hand tightly embraced on his own. His mind was a mess.

“Jaehyun!” 

He heard, at the distance.

“Jaehyun, wake up!” 

He felt a strong grip on his left shoulder. A desperate hand, pulling him out of his own thoughts. Taeyong was staring at him.

“What? I’m sorry, Taeyong, I was—”

"Jaehyun, I need you here," Taeyong said abruptly, "look," he pointed at the number on the top of the door with his finger, “we are on the top floor. But please, I need you. I need you all in your senses. Okay?" He asked, more like an order than a question.

“Okay,” he replied simply. His mind started to clear, he could tell, feeling how the hand he was holding began to loosen. Mark. Jaehyun reached his hand again, before Mark could pull away completely. Something was off. 

“Mark, you okay there?” It was a dumb question, he realized after saying it. The younger looked at him, his mouth began to move, but he said no words. He was about to call his name again, but was interrupted by someone else.

“Mark?” Jaehyun heard a reassuring voice calling out the minor's name. Jungwoo was right next to him, his eyes fixed on Mark. He was worried, Jaehyun noticed, as well as him, “I’m here, Mark. We are all here with you.” He paused, taking Mark’s idle hand with his own, “look at me, we'll be fine. Okay?"

Mark didn't reply inmediately, he looked like he was trying to put things in their place, “... What was that?” He finally spoke, “I don’t understand. We came here to record, but what happened?” Jaehyun could barely hear the last words. Mark was in some kind of shock. 

"None of us know what that was, Mark, I'm sorry." Taeyong interrupted, directing a condescending glance at the youngest. "All I know is that we have to act quickly. I mean, we don't know what happened, so we also don't know what will come next. I just think that the first thing we have to do is to find," he paused. Jaehyun felt the almost imperceptible nervousness in his leader's voice, knowing him too well not to notice, "to, to find, you know, a safer place?"

“And do you think it’s safer outside that door?” Jaehyun asked, genuinely. 

Taeyong stared back at him and sighed,“I don’t know that either. But we can’t stay here, waiting for something to happen while we sit on the stairs.”

"Why not?" Jungwoo asked, his gaze still fixed on Mark. "Okay, wait, that's not what I wanted to ask." He shook his head, turning his gaze back to Taeyong, "but... what are we supposed to find outside? I mean, what if, what if one of those things is there too?"

Jaehyun was thinking about it too. Sure, there must be something waiting for them outside, right?. Something like the _guy_ who jumped to their manager on the first floor. 

He remembered, the _guy_ , their manager lending them some masks. _Oh,_ he thought, _of course, the masks._

The leader looked uneasy, "that's a possibility, I know. But it's better than staying here," he muttered.

"Come to think of it, Taeyong-hyung," Jaehyun chimed in, trying to put his own thoughts in order and fixing his gaze on the door, "maybe you're right? Like, there weren't too many people here in the building." The word _coronavirus_ crossed his mind, but he pushed it away, trying to focus on what he was trying to say, _maybe later._ "So, I don't think those... things, can figure how to use an elevator, they were out of their senses.” He finished, his mouth suddenly went dry. What he saw, he couldn't forget.

However, after speaking, an uncertain silence took over the place. Jaehyun looked at Jungwoo, then Mark, and finally he set his eyes on Taeyong, seeking for some kind of assurement. A simply nod was enough, but their leader remained silent. He was thinking, his face showing his current emotions. So, Jaehyun waited. 

“I,” but to Jaehyun’s surprise, the one who broke the silence was Mark, “this is out of context but," the three of them landed their eyes on the rapper, expectation taking over them, "where’s… where's Taeil-hyung? And Haechannie? I thought we were togheter with them."

Oh. _Oh._

He almost forgot. How could he forget.

He was too focused on running, tracking Taeyong's footsteps and carrying a shocked Mark with him, that he didn’t think about them. Haechan, who was with Taeil. Haechan, who went to the bathroom. And Taeil, who accompanied him. Jaehyun felt cold running all over his body. He started to shiver. And then his mind started to remember not just Haechan and Taeil, but the others. 

It wasn't that he didn't care. He was in shock. He couldn't think well. But now that Mark reminded them of the others, Jaehyun started to panic. 

His mind was everywhere and he suddenly remembered the second group. They were the first group in charge of recording, early in the morning, but they had finished. It was the second group turn now, supposedly. Weren’t them on their way already? He recalled a memory of Taeyong picking up Johnny’s phone call. Taeyong replying with an “Okay, we'll be here.”

Taeyong, Jaehyun observed, didn't look surprised at Mark's words. But Jaehyun started to lose his mind.

He wasn’t the type of person that will lose control over his emotions. Over the years, being an idol taught him how to keep his composure in front of the world. Of course he lost it sometimes, it happened to him one time or another, he _remembers_ , he was human after all. But now it was different. This was something he never thought could happen. Something that was completely out of his hands.

“Taeyong," he said. His pulse began to run through his veins. He felt like a lost child. 

Taeyong stopped him right away.

“Jaehyun,” his tone was severe and Jaehyun couldn't stare at anywhere but the leader, “focus.” Taeyong cupped Jaehyun’s face, looking at him in the eye. “One problem at a time. You have to focus here." He said before letting him go. 

"And you both too," He continued, pointing with his index finger to both, Mark and Jungwoo. Mark was looking at him, but not for too long. His eyes seeking for the floor, "I'm worried too. Look at me, I'm shaking. But we have to go out that door, find something to, maybe, defend ourselves. We have to take care of each other now and—" He looked a little hectic.

Jaehyun really couldn't process what Taeyong was saying, his mind was everywhere. But somehow, he began to calm down. No wonder, he thought, no wonder why Taeyong was their leader. 

He tried to focus on the room, on what happened. He stole a glance towards Jungwoo, who apparently seemed to be the most understanding. If he looked a little anxious before, now he was much calmer. Breathing.

“—and then,” Taeyong continued, “we will think about the rest after that. Okay?” 

"Yes," Jaehyun replied, learning how to breathe again and fixing his eyes on Jungwoo, he was in sync with him. He felt more relaxed.

“Okay… good." Taeyong turned himself to the door.

"So, I'm sorry for rushing," Jungwoo spoke. Taeyong glanced at him again, "but if we're going to move, then we should do it now." He said, his words didn't match his calming tone at all. Jungwoo was now sitting on the stairs and Mark was right next to him, holding him by the arm. The youngest still looking at the ground.

"I think we should decide who will open that door," Jungwoo continued. Maybe he did want to rush things after all.

"I will," Taeyong replied, almost instantly, "I think it's me who should come out first. It's my responsibility."

But was that really Taeyong's responsibility? Jaehyun wondered.

"No, I will," he hastened to say, he couldn't let the leader do everything, “I know you think you should, hyung, because you are the leader. But I think I should be the one to do it because I somehow know how to defend myself."

Taeyong stared at him, as if asking, a _re you sure?_ He just nodded in response, and Taeyong, still a little unsure, returned the nod. Jaehyun approached the door. He didn't want to make it last too long, so he just waited until the others told him they were ready. He turned the door knob, slowly. And he leaned out.

Nothing. _Weird._

Jaehyun felt brave then. He started to take a few steps, but a hand stopped him.

He heard Taeyong whispering on his back, “Jaehyun, wait!” 

And a idea crossed Jaehyun's mind, "actually..." he turned his gaze to them, from Taeyong to Jungwoo to Mark, "shouldn't it be better if I go alone?"

"What?" They asked him in surprise.

"Listen. I'll be okay. I just think that going in a group is more dangerous. If I see something out of place, I can just run right back here," he tried to sound convincing.

"That's... dangeruous too, Jaehyun," Jungwoo said, worry filling his words, "are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes. Please, just trust me."

They couldn't really stop him.

He started walking, testing the waters. Jaehyun didn't know where all that confidence was coming from, since a few minutes ago he was literally shaking. But somehow, he felt the need to keep the others safe.

Jaehyun began to inspect the hallway. Nothing. Shouldn't at least some people be there? _After all, the top floor has some important offices_ , Jaehyun thought and sighed. 

A few minutes passed and still nothing. Everything seemed clear and in its place. So he decided that maybe no one was there. He was returning to the emergency exit to call the others, then he heard a noise. Nothing so loud, just a rattle, coming from the end of the hall. Jaehyun's pulse began to increase. But then again, he didn't want to think too much. He simply walked down the hall, gently knocking on all the closed doors. Just in case someone was there.

Somehow, he was convinced that if someone was there, it couldn't be something non human, since there was no sign of a senseless humanoid would have walked in that place. But apparently there was no human either.

Great. Was he hearing things already?

He decided to open the doors.

In the next second, he was lying on his back, covering himself with his arms. Thanks to his reflexes he was able to avoid the chair that almost hit his head. _That was close. Too close._ He didn't see it coming.

“Hit him!” Someone yelled, waking Jaehyun up from his trance.

"Wait!" He heard himself scream, "I'm a person, look at me!" He could feet his own eyes going wide, his hands moving in front of him, feeling desperate.

A man was in front of him. He stared at Jaehyun for a few seconds before he began to lower the chair onto his hands.

“Jaehyun-ssi?” A woman behind the man gasped. “Oh, I’m so sorry! We thought you were one of those...!” 

Jaehyun, still lying on his back, recognized her. One of their staffs, a noona. 

The man who was still in front of him gave Jaehyun a hand, so he could stand up. He started to greet them, lowly, not knowing what else to do. Still a little perplexed. "I'm sorry I scared you," were the only words he was able to mutter before looking around the room. There were two more people. He noticed another noona, and a man, Jaehyun couldn't tell who that man was, but somehow he remembered his face. He also realized that the man who almost hit him with the chair was a guard, he noticed from the uniform he was wearing.

“Did you come from the first floor?” The guard asked him, strartling Jaehyun, “I thought the elevators were disabled.”

 _Oh, so that's why the elevator didn't work_. When they tried to use it to get to the top floor, he recalled, it took longer than usual. But they couldn't exactly wait, they had to escape. So then they were forced to climb the emergency stairs.

“Oh. No, not really. We took the stairs,” He replied, everyone was looking at him, "Uhm... and I actually came here with the other members. Speaking of which, I think I should go find them. I'll be back in a minute."

 _That was awkward_ , he thought after leaving the room. Someone almost hit him with a chair and he just greeted them. 

But he didn't have time for that thoughts.

He opened the exit door and two pairs of concerned eyes lay on him. Jaehyun almost snorted. If it wasn't for the circumstances, he might have laughed.

“Jaehyun? Is everything ok?” Taeyong asked.

He lend out a hand to Taeyong, who was now sitting on the ground, “yes, there are… a few people. Nothing more. None of those… things. I think we should go there first, with them.”

Jungwoo was still hugging Mark, he noted, and they quickly stepped outside.

They were walking down the hall, Jaehyun was leading their steps, almost reaching the office at the end. But something interrupted them.

A phone started ringing. Jaehyun turned his head. It was Mark’s.

“It’s… Haechannie,” he showed them the contact on the screen, “what should I do?” Mark asked, looking anxious. 

“Give that to me,” Taeyong said, taking the cellphone from Mark’s hands and picking the phonecall right away, “Haechannie?” he turned on the speaker, “Haechannie, are you okay? where are you?”

“ _Tae… I’m… -room… please.”_

Taeyong started to panic, “Haechannie? I can’t hear you! Can you repeat it? Are you okay?” The signal was bad.

“ _Hy... ung… Taeil-hyung… on the bathroom,”_ Haechan’s voice sounded broken and it wasn’t just because of the signal, Jaehyun noted.

“On the bathroom!? Are you still on the first floor!?”

" _..._ "

“Haechannie, can you hear me?"

" _..._ "

"Haechannie, I can't hear you. I can't hear you, but if you can hear me, please, stay there. We're coming for you, I promise. But don’t go outside. Okay?” There was a pause, “Haechan?" and the call was cut off.

Taeyong stared at Jaehyun, startled.

“There’s… in the office, there’s a guard. Maybe he can help us,” Jaehyun told them, “but we must hurry.”

Something wasn’t right. 

They were running. 

Actually, for some time now, nothing was right. But right now, as he hurried his steps, he just hoped that at least everyone was safe.


	2. On Your Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You look like shit, Hyung." He joked. 
> 
> Taeil laughed, a little out of breath, "I bet I still look better than all of you." He replied, making them snort in unison. Taeil was definitely a relief himself.

"What? Why not?" Jaehyun saw how Taeyong's expression began to change.

"Because we don't want to be exposed too," said the guard.

Jaehyun looked at the other people in the room, seeking for some kind of understanding. But none of them, other than Jungwoo and Mark, returned his gaze. He felt hopeless.

“Listen, if you want to go there, then go. No one here is going to stop you,” the man continued, “but kid, have you at least looked out the window?" He said, pointing his head towards the window right next to Taeyong, "things right now are worse than you think."

That's true, he thought. _How’s everything going outside?_ He didn't stop to think about it before. _When did all this start? Everything was normal in the morning._

The guard continued, "where have you been all morning?" 

"We were recording, so we didn't leave that room for a few hours." Jungwoo was the one who answered. The man looked at him for a few seconds, before returning his gaze to Taeyong.

"And did you talk to anyone else besides your manager or the producers? Because I bet they didn't know shit either." Jaehyun swore he saw a kind of mockery between the guard words.

"I did," Taeyong said, "I talked to one of the members, but he didn't... say anything?" The last words sounded questioning, probably because Taeyong was distracted by Mark, who was suddenly standing next to him. Taeyong looked at him confused.

But the guard interrupted Taeyong’s trance, "perhaps this also took him by surprise, as well as your friends down here." He said while crossing his arms over his chest.

And Jaehyun felt his own chest tighten.

"What are you trying to say?" Taeyong, Jaehyun noted, was losing patience. He even dropped any formality.

The man snorted, "isn't it obvious? It would be stupid of you if you leave this floor only to find someone you don't even know is alive."

Jaehyun had to catch Taeyong before he jumped on the man, “Hyung-" But Taeyong couldn’t even reach him.

" _What the fuck_!?" They heard, “ _Holy shit, what is that_!?”

Everyone turned their eyes to source of the screaming voice. And cursing in english, there was Mark. He was piercing the window with his gaze, eyes fixed on whatever he was looking at. Jaehyun was right beside him in a second, leaving a confused Taeyong behind. He watched the scene, but he couldn’t say he was surprised. Ever since he saw a man bite their manager, he realized that things would be like this. He was witnessing something he never thought he’d see outside of a movie screen. Ever.

Mark continued his speech, " _ar_ _e those fucking zombies_? _I_ _s this for real!_?”

Jungwoo and Taeyong were now standing next to him too, watching the same scene. Even though they couldn't really see it properly from a distance, they saw how a group of three zombies were on top of a body. Was that person being eaten alive? Jaehyun wished that wasn’t the case when he saw the zombies' hands ripping his stomach. He looked away and took Mark by the arm. Seeing that was enough for him to understand how things were going outside.

"Do you get it now?" The guard said, smiling as if he was winning some kind of silly argument. Jaehyun felt his blood boil with anger, "I hope you have realized that there’s nothing you can do for your friends now."

But the only thing Jaehyun realized was that, first of all, the people there weren’t going to help them. That was clearly a lost cause. And secondly, they were wasting time. People were in danger. And Haechan and Taeil were waiting for them.

And as if he was reading Jaehyun's mind, Taeyong said, "we don't have time for this, we have to go now." His tone was determined, but he also looked terrified.

"You still want to go?" The man insisted.

That made Taeyong lost his patience again, “please! Just, shut your mouth, can you?” Taeyong didn’t wait for an asnwer, and continued talking, “Jungwoo, I need you to stay here. Both, you and Mark. I’ll go find Taeil-hyung... and Haechannie. And,” he looked at Jaehyun, “Jaehyun?”

“Yes, Taeyong,” he replied, without hesitation. He didn't have to ask, "I’ll go with you.”

But Jungwoo didn't seem to agree, "wait, I can go too! I can't stay here and do nothing!"

"No. Listen, I know you can. It's just, we don't know how's everything going down there. And in the case, if we can't make it-"

Mark interrupted him, "Hyung..." his hands were trembling.

Taeyong just continued, "but you have to know, Mark... I'm so sorry, because I don't really have a plan. But Jaehyun was right before. Going in a big group could be more dangerous. And also," he paused, "I need you to do something else. I think, the connection doesn’t really work, right? But while you are here, I need you to try to contact the rest anyway. We have to make sure they are safe. And try to contact your families too. My phone doesn’t work, but maybe Mark's does, since at least he got a call from Haechannie. Right?"

They didn’t respond, but Taeyong insisted, "can you do that for me?"

Jungwoo and Mark shared a look, both looking resigned.

"... Please?"

"Okay, we’ll try, we can try." Jungwoo replied.

"Thank you," their leader continued, looking a bit more relieved, "but please, promise me this too. Promise me that if we don't return, you’ll do everything in your hands to survive and that you’ll take care of each other. Promise?”

They heard some sort of snort. But this time, they didn't care.

"I promise." Mark said hesitantly.

Taeyong glanced at Jungwoo, expecting a response coming from him too.

Jungwoo sighed, "okay… me too, I promise, but take care, please. And you too, both of you, please make sure to come back."

Taeyong simply nodded as well as Jaehyun. 

And there they were, again. In front of that emergency door. If Jaehyun wasn't scared enough when he was there before, now he was. And Taeyong too, he noticed by the way the leader's body was tensing up.

They were currently at the door of the first floor. It was locked, as they had left it when they entered earlier. _There really wasn't too many people inside the building,_ Jaehyun thought. He took a step toward the door. It seemed like a dejavu, but at least this time he had something to defend himself against whatever was out there. However, it was nothing so impressive, a simple stick that he got from the table he broke when he found nothing else. He remembered the scared looks he received then. And Taeyong, who was right behind him, was also holding a piece. It wasn't the best weapon, he knew, but he had nothing else and at least he felt a little more secure.

They both breathed before going outside.

And there was only silence, again. Jaehyun swore that he didn't hate silence, it used to be one of his favorite things, something comfortable. But now it felt like some kind of sign. Some kind of warning.

They began to walk cautiously. Trying to be as quiet as possible. He felt his blood rush to his ears.

"Turn to the left, Jaehyun," Taeyong whispered behind him, "the bathroom is that way."

Jaehyun nodded, but before turning himself he stared at the entrance of the building, and something catched his attention inmediately. There was blood on the ground, he observed. Even the glass on the front door was covered in blood. He felt a chill go through his spine.

Little by little, walking down the hall, Jaehyun recognized the bathroom sign in the distance. They were close, so he began to relax. And that wasn’t the best idea, he realized later.

Something screamed.

They heard it coming from behind. Almost animal. Jaehyun had never heard such a noise before. More than animal, it sounded like some kind of beast. Something that comes from the bottom of its throat, guttural. Jaehyun didn't have a chance to turn his head.

Taeyong shoved his back, "Jaehyun! Run! Run!" and he ran. He saw Taeyong's back running in front of him. And he could feel something almost catching him from behind. Jaehyun couldn't see it, but he didn't want to see it either. He was terrified.

And there was the bathroom.

He watched Taeyong pushing the door.

A hand reaching his back. 

Someone dragging him.

A loud knock echoing at the now closed door.

He breathed.

"That— that was so close," he heard Taeyong trying to catch his breath, "Jaehyun, you ok?"

Jaehyun simply nodded. He couldn't formulate a word. Trying to process what just happened, “thank you..." he tried, "I almost— ”

"Hyung?" Jaehyun was interrupted. He recognized the voice.

"Haechan!?" He said. And the boy ran towards him, without hesitation. Jaehyun hugged him tightly and felt Haechan's body relax in his arms, "are you ok!?" he asked to the younger one, noting the relief on his body, as if he had been holding something he just let go. Haechan nodded on Jaehyun's chest.

"I'm okay," he replied, "thank you for coming for us."

He stopped for a moment. Both Taeyong and Jaehyun waited for Haechan to continue.

"I'm fine, but," He stepped back, taking a little distance to look at the two of them, "something happened. Taeil-hyung... his leg. He fell. Something tried to catch us in the hallway as we were leaving, so we ran back here. But the thing caught him and took his leg."

"Was he bitten?" Taeyong asked in a hurry. Jaehyun remembered all the zombie movies he watched before. _Is that possible? Maybe everything is possible now._

"No. I managed to drag him with me. But apparently the grip was too strong, I could barely save him, and, well, his leg is dislocated now."

 _The same thing could have happened to me,_ Jaehyun thought, “where is Taeil-hyung now?” he asked.

“Hmm, there,” he pointed to one of the cubicles, “I'll take you with him, come with me.”

Taeil was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall behind him. He looked at them and smiled immediately. That made Jaehyun feel relieved.

"You look like shit, Hyung." He joked. 

Taeil laughed, a little out of breath, "I bet I still look better than all of you." He replied, making them snort in unison. Taeil was definitely a relief himself.

“You still have the strength to make silly jokes, huh? He looks healthy to me,” Taeyong continued, laughing along with them. But they returned to their serious faces in a swift.

Taeil broke the upcoming silence, "so... how’s everything going outside?" 

“Well, the thing outside almost caught us too. And, outside the building, I think it's worse outside," Taeyong replied.

"Did you speak to anyone else?" The older one continued.

"Not exactly. Just with Johnny, but it was before all of this, I think, since he didn't mention anything."

"Oh, well, I hope they are safe—"

"What about you?" Interrupted Jaehyun.

"I talked to Jaemin," Haechan replied, "he called me. The signal wasn’t good, but he said they were safe in the dorm. That's all I know."

"I'm glad they are okay..." said Taeyong, "so, you don't know anything about the rest?" He asked, tensing a little. Jaehyun could understand, having the same mixed feelings creeping up on him.

"No, I'm sorry, Hyung..." Haechan finished looking at him with sad eyes.

There was an awkward pause, "okay, don’t be, it’s not your fault," and Taeyong continued, returning to his determined face, "well, we can't stay here. We have to go upstairs."

"But how?" Haechan asked, looking at Taeil. The older one noticed.

Taeil looked uneasy, "I'm so sorry," he said, "I'm just a burden right now."

"You are not," Jaehyun replied, "not having you with us would be a burden. So, don't say that, Hyung."

Taeyong stared at Taeil's leg, then he asked, "can you stand up?"

“I can try...”

Haechan lended him a hand, "I'll help you, Hyung."

Taeil was no longer on the ground, now standing on his feet, letting out a small growl. He seemed in pain, Jaehyun noted.

Jaehyun kneeled in front of Taeil, "I think I should look at your leg before we go, maybe I can put that bone in place," he said, lifting the fabric of his pants. It looked bad. "Okay... I think it will hurt a little. I'm sorry, Hyung," he said, gently feeling the bone through his skin. Taeil just nodded, looking anywhere other than his leg.

Jaehyun squeezed his leg as fast as he could. Taeil let out a painful scream that was silenced by Haechan's shoulder next to him. _That must have hurt_ , he thought. Then, Jaehyun picked up one of his own shirts, the short-sleeved one. He ripped it open with his hands, and quickly covered Taeil's leg tightly with the cloth, "okay, I think that will do. At least for now."

“Thank you, Jaehyun,” were the only words that Taeil could say.

They exchanged glances, unsure what to do next. Taeil seemed more and more restless as time passed.

"Hm," Taeyong clapped both his hands, "okay! Time to go."

Haechan wrapped his arm around the older one, "Right, lean on my shoulder, Hyung. I'll help you walk," he said, sharing a small smile with Taeil.

Taeyong stared both and smiled a little too, "Okay, I'll go first," and before Jaehyun could protest, he continued, "you will go behind, Jaehyun. Watch our backs."

It sounded reasonable.

Taeyong was taking a look outside, but apparently there was no trace of that zombie. Jaehyun, who was also getting ready in the back, watched how Taeyong’s hands were squeezing the stick tightly. Then he began to move, quickly. They couldn't miss an opportunity. 

Quick and cautious. They were heading towards the stairs. Jaehyun felt tense, but he was surely more prepared than the last time, all his senses focused on the moment. That’s why he could hear the rushing footsteps coming for them. _Where?_ He tried to focus on the sound, _over there!_

But it was too close. 

"Hurry!" He yelled, "something is coming!"

He saw Haechan doing his best to take Taeil with him, so Jaehyun went right next to them, wrapping his arm around the older's body. The three of them running as fast as they could.

But something was holding Jaehyun by the. He felt its breath in front of his face. And then, the thing was throwing him to the ground. The stick flew out of his hands. Jaehyun held the zombie by the hair and recognized his manager's face. He could see its teeth, its mouth opening and closing, trying to reach for a piece of flesh. It felt unreal.

Jaehyun strengthened the grip on the other's head, fighting with everything he had. He pushed its body with his legs, turning it onto his back and now lying on top of the zombie. Then, something clicked in Jaehyun's mind, some kind of will, _I can’t die here!_ And he started pounding senseless. He noticed that the body in front of him felt no pain, but he also realized that something was disconnected when he hit it on the head, he noted by the way it tightened under him.

He continued, hitting and hitting its head. Hitting and hitting, until he saw the stick almost a meter from him. The one that flew away some seconds ago. And he acted quickly, not having time to think about anything else but saving his life.

He grabbed the stick with his hands, _faster, faster,_ lining it up in front of his manager's eyes. He didn’t hesitate, pushing with all his might. He could feel the meat tearing apart under his hands. Feeling it with all his senses. Now it felt too real.

“JAEHYUN!”

He heard his name, he didn't have time to process anything. He turned his body, too fast, towards the source of the voice. There were three more of them. And Taeyong was trying to fight them, but it was almost impossible for the leader. Jaehyun held the stick and ran as fast as he could, focusing on hitting one of the zombies’ heads, taking advantage of the speed. Haechan and Taeil were trying to push the zombies away. 

Jaehyun, while heading towards the others, made a sign with his hand, signaling Taeyong to go and open the exit door, to help them escape, to make some time.

He saw himself running, helding Haechan and freeing him from the zombies’ hands.

"HAECHAN, RUN!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

He saw himself trying to push the zombies away of Taeil, who was now under two pair of arms. Hitting and hitting, again and again. But there was no will that could help him now. 

There were now three pair of arms. Jaehyun then realized that he didn’t hit hard enough. And he lamented it. He lamented it so bad. Because in that moment, he couldn’t do anything to save the terrified eyes in front of him. He felt how his own strenght was nothing against those senseless bodies that were now coming for him. 

He was running for his own life now, hearing Taeyong's voice. The leader holding the door and waiting for him to enter, looking at him with an indescribable look.

Jaehyun let himself fall. And he will never forget the loud knock on the door, the horrifying screams and the silence.

Night fell. He watched Haechan lying down next to Mark and Jungwoo, hugging them tightly. They were broken. And so was Jaehyun.

He was devastated, not only by the scene or by the circumstances, but because he felt useless, unable to protect the people he loved.

All these hours, he was thinking, about Taeil. Remembering all that the oldest did for him. The times when he helped him solve some silly problems, the times when he laughed along with him, and the times when he listened to Jaehyun's concerns without judgment. Everything Taeil did for him, Jaehyun was unable to return anything.

When they returned, the first thing Jungwoo said was that they couldn’t contact anyone. They nodded silently. And then Mark looked at them, conflicted, and asked, "Where's Taeil-hyung?" 

The catastrophe felt more real after that question.

Now he was lying on the ground. Thinking and thinking, he let himself think about all the things he didn't want to think about during the day. He was being drowned.

And then, his mind went to the place he least wanted, knowing too well that he'd lose his mind again. But he couldn’t help it.

Everything in his head was now full of regrets about Yuta.

Guilt began to creep through his heart. The last words he said to him. The tears in his eyes. He wanted to hear his voice, to tell him that he was sorry. But nothing was going as he wanted.

He looked at the ceiling in silence, but he dindn't want to think anymore. That was enough. He wasn't alone there, he couldn't let himself be carried away by his own emotions knowing that others needed him now and there. 

He saw Taeyong sitting. He was alone, so he walked towards him. The other didn't notice, too focused on the screen in front of him. Jaehyun called out his name and the leader jumped, startled.

“You scared me, fuck!” He said while trying to cover the picture on his phone.

 _He's so obvious._ Of course Jaehyun saw it. The smiling face on the screen. A very recognizable picture of Ten, “have a lot in your mind?” He asked. Trying to smile at the leader, but he really couldn't smile at all.

He sighed, “... yeah.” 

“Me too. I was thinking," he paused "I was thinking too much that I got tired."

"That's..." the older said, "maybe we have to stop thinking." 

"Maybe," Jaehyun replied and continued "I always thought about this, you know, but I didn't tell you.”

Taeyong was confused, “hm? About what?”

"It's weird, I know, I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but I feel like we're both always walking the same paths," he giggled, "always thinking and going through almost the same things. Don't you think, Taeyong?”

The leader let out a giggle too, “oh? No, it’s not weird, don’t worry, it’s not weird at all," he replied.

Taeyong was now staring at him. Jaehyun couldn't really see him since the lights were down, but he noted from his voice that he had been crying.

"I told you before," the leader continued, "we are brothers. We share the same destiny, I mean, I’m Jung Taeyong, after all," he let out a short, quick laugh. One of Taeyong's characteristic nervous laughs.

"Oh my god, stop that," Jaehyun laughed, sounding tired and out of breath, but it was genuine, "I mean, I can agree, but... that would also be weird. Really weird."

They were silent for a moment. There wasn't too much to talk about. Or maybe there was too much to talk about, but Jaehyun wasn’t prepared to hear his friend cry, because he didn't want to cry either. He felt selfish, but at the moment everything felt too unreal and real at the same time. And it was painful.

He didn't realize when, but he began to relax, feeling the sleep creeping through his body.

But then, something woke him up. Jaehyun froze. His cell phone buzzed in his leg, and he took it immediately, unlocked the screen, and saw in an instant how several messages started to drop.

Johnny.

Mom.

Doyoung...

... and Yuta.

He didn't think too much and clicked on the last name in a second. The messages were sent in the morning. 

**Yuta**

jaehyun are you still recording?

don’t go outside

11:49

please don’t go outside

stay there

reply to me if you see this please

11:50

jaehyun

jaehyun

jaehyun

jaehyun

11:56

reply to me please

jaehyun

12:01

Jaehyun then started checking the other messages. So much information, he couldn't process everything. Mom is fine. That made him feel better. And he kept tapping the screen, trying to find out if everyone was okay.

Taeyong noticed the sudden change in Jaehyun’s movements.

"What's wrong?" Taeyong asked, seeing the stunned expression on Jaehyun’s face.

"I think my cell phone is working now," he was unable to formulate any other response.

"What!? And what are you waiting for? Call them before it leaves!”

Jaehyun didn’t wait to be asked twice.

He clicked on all of his contacts, waiting for one on them to answer to his call. Someone, whoever. Please. And a sigh of relief came from his mouth when he heard a voice through the speaker.

“ _Jaehyun_!?”

It was Doyoung’s.

“ _Jaehyun, finally! Where are you!? Are you with the others!? We tried to call you so many times, but the signal was too bad and_ -"

“Wait, wait,” He replied, feeling overhelmed by Doyoung's brainstorming, “yes, I'm with them, but wait, I’ll leave you with Taeyong-hyung,” Jaehyun said before lending his phone to the leader. 

Taeyong took the phone and started to speak.

And Jaehyun thought that maybe everything wasn’t as lost as he had been thinking.

  
  



	3. Just as we lose ourselves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny looked at both of them, "well, I agree with Yuta but... the manager is not here."
> 
> "He’s not here? What?" Yuta asked, confused, "and how are we supposed to go to the studio?"
> 
> "I’ll drive us there," they stared at Johnny with inquiring looks, so he continued, "I tried to talk to the manager, but he didn’t answer my calls. And since we are late, I thought we should just go by ourselves."

_“The most interesting part I read was... if there’s someone you are interested in, there’s options of what you’d say to them, and it was about how you’d say it." The other members nodded. “How would you say it?” He asked, pointing to Jaehyun, “like, you don’t know if they’re interested in you.”_

_“I wouldn’t drag it on,” Jaehyun replied, staring at the camera, “I would just say_ **_daisuki_** _."_

_“Hmm… Yeah, so that’s how everyone would do it!” Everyone laughed in unison._

_Taeyong intervened, "wouldn’t you have to know what that person likes?”_

_“Niceee, yeah, that’s correct!" Yuta agreed with the leader._

_“_ ** _But if you both really liked each other_** _,"_ _Jaehyun interrupted, staring at Yuta, “ **I**_ ** _don’t think it would really matter what you said_** _.”_

 _“Yeah, that’s true... but you still don’t know,” the japanese retorted, “you have to think about **what that person wants and what they’d like more**. So if you want to be loved, _ **_you need to approach and take interest first_** _._ _” Yuta finished, staring directly at the camera._

  
  
  
  
  
  


Yuta woke up that morning feeling tired. He couldn't sleep as much as he wanted, as much as he needed. But he wasn't really surprised by the sudden change in his sleeping habits, it had been like this for a few weeks after all.

It was seven in the morning and he was still lying in his bed, watching some silly videos that appeared on YouTube. Something called _dalgona coffee,_ it seemed pretty easy. But his free time didn’t last long. A soft knock sounded on his bedroom door, and before he could respond, the knob was being opened.

"Oh, please, you're welcome." He said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Taeyong entered without asking. Not that he has ever asked.

Taeyong stared at him with a questioning look, "you still haven't got up? Should I be worried?" He asked jokingly, knowing too well that the Japanese is always up at five. But Yuta could tell by his tone that he wasn't joking at all.

"I don't feel like acting too predictable today." He replied in a plain voice.

Taeyong's smile began to fall, "hm... right," he muttered, "you know, we have a lot to do today, so I wanted to check up on you before I go to the studio. And, I don't know, since I didn't see you around, I was a little worried?"

Yuta looked at him for a few seconds, trying to find something else in the leader's words. Then he simply replied, "oh, don't worry, I'm fine though. But thanks for your concern." It sounded too bitter for his own liking, but he didn't feel like talking too much to his leader that morning.

And somehow Taeyong realized it too,"Yuta," he said a little hesitantly, "Is everything alright?" Yuta noted a shade of uneasiness in Taeyong's tone, "I have to go now, but I really want to know why you're acting so distant with me lately, did I—"

“Taeyong,” he interrupted Taeyong's words abruptly, "look, I don't want to talk about this right now. I'll talk to you later, I promise. But now I want to be alone. And don't worry, I know there’s a lot to do today and make sure I will accomplish everything. You know how I am." He finished, noticing how his own tone increased with the last words he said. _Was that too harsh?_

Maybe it was, because Taeyong was speechless, he realized, feeling guilty immediately. But right now, even if he wanted to, he couldn't back down. He was being honest after all. He wasn't particularly mad at him, he just didn't feel too comfortable lately. That had something to do with himself more than with Taeyong, he knew that, but he couldn't help it.

The leader stood in silence for a moment, “okay, I think I get it,” his words sounded... sad, “see you later then.” Taeyong said before leaving the room a little too fast.

Yuta let out a tired sigh. _There’s nothing to do about it now,_ he thought. It was seven in the morning and the day started bad already  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Yuta was now on the 5th floor, since he didn't want to wait alone. He still had time to prepare for the recording and, although they were more focused on learning the new choreo the previous days, he already memorized his lines. Not that he had that many lines, though. He couldn't say he wasn't used to it, but he also couldn't help getting angry every time they were shown the lyrics before saying ' _maybe next time_ ' to Yuta. However, he still wanted to do a good job. He was a professional after all. And he loved to sing. He reminded himself of his love for music whenever he felt like giving up. So that morning he decided to spend the hours he had to keep practicing.

Johnny was also practicing. He realized when he heard his voice coming from his room, filling the silence in the apartment. They were the last ones in charge of recording, along with Doyoung. And although they could have gone to the studio with the others in the morning, the last night they decided to stay a little longer since they didn't feel like waiting all morning and instead preferred to rest. After all, Yuta was not sleeping well lately and Doyoung caught a cold. Johnny, on the other hand, said that he only wanted to accompany them, but little Yuta knew that what he really wanted was some time to practice alone.

"I talked to Taeyong," said Johnny, interrupting Yuta, who was too focused on practicing that he didn't notice when the clock struck eleven in the morning, "he said they were almost done," _well, that was fast,_ Yuta thought,"so we should get going. Are you ready to leave?” 

"Yes. I just have to go get my bag. Is Doyoung ready too? Does he feel better?"

Johnny stared at the ceiling, "hmm, he said he was fine, but I don't know, you know how he is."

"Yes, sometimes he is just like that," he said resigned, "ok, I'll be right back."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A few minutes later, he was going down in the elevator along with Doyoung and Johnny, feeling a little impatient. Although he said he will comply with everything he didn't want to go, but he had to. He really didn't want to go, but most of all, he didn't want to see Jaehyun.

He knew that he was being childish, Yuta wasn’t someone really subtle so almost everyone realized that he was ignoring the other. But Jaehyun wasn’t doing the same. And that was what bothered him the most, because Jaehyun was acting as if nothing happened, playing with the rest of the members, doing his schedule perfectly fine, he even tried to make small and casual conversations with him. And that’s when Yuta lost his patience. He remembers looking at him before standing up and leaving Jaehyun without replying to his dumb ‘do you want some coffee too?’ question. Everyone noticed then that something was wrong with them. Later that day, even Doyoung asked him if he was okay, but he simply replied that he didn’t want to talk, and the younger one told him that if he wanted someone to talk to, he was there to help him. He is always so reliable.

And speaking of Doyoung, Yuta noticed that he still looked pale.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Johnny asked before Yuta could.

"Yes. I told you, I'm fine. It's just a cold, you don't have to worry so much."

But Yuta was still worried, "maybe we can talk to the manager? I mean, In case you don't feel well, maybe you can go to the hospital or something."

“No, really. I’m fine.” 

Johnny looked at both of them, "well, I agree with Yuta but... the manager is not here."

"He’s not here? What?" Yuta asked, confused, "and how are we supposed to go to the studio?"

"I’ll drive us there," they stared at Johnny with inquiring looks, so he continued, "I tried to talk to the manager, but he didn’t answer my calls. And since we are late, I thought we should just go by ourselves."

"Oh," Doyoung said, too tired to ask anything else.

Yuta felt the anger build inside him little by little, "okay…?" He said, "That’s weird? How can they leave us like this?”

Johnny let out a sigh, "I don't know. I even tried talking to another manager, but I guess everyone is busy with the recording. Or, I don't know, really. That's what I hope. I don't want to get mad, so I didn't think too much."

The elevator made a small _beep._

"Sure," Yuta said, exiting the elevator. He also didn't want to get mad, he already had enough things to deal with, so he tried to chill too, "I just hope that nobody dies today," he said, teasing the driver in charge.

Johnny whined, "what does that mean? Shut up!" and Doyoung giggled quietly.

And surprisingly, but not really, Yuta felt better when he got into Johnny's car, placing himself in the passenger seat. It made him feel more comfortable, perhaps because it didn't feel like a duty.

"You should take us to the studio more often," he commented as he put on his seat belt.

Johnny started driving towards the exit of the parking lot, "didn't you say I'm the worst driver just a few minutes ago?" he replied jokingly.

"Me? When?" Yuta acted offended, "I never said that! I just said ' _I_ _hope nobody dies today_ ', I don't know why you felt so attacked," Yuta heard Doyoung's small laugh coming from the back seat. Surely he had no more energy to do anything else.

"Hmm, yeah, right. I'll pretend I believe you—" Johnny paused so Yuta turned his gaze to him, "oh?" he said.

"What?" Yuta was confused by the sudden change in the Johnny's voice tone, whose gaze was now fixed on the car in front of them.

Johnny beeped several times, "someone is blocking the exit." 

"I don't think they plan to move?" Doyoung said, finally breaking his silence.

He beeped again, "this is rare," but there was no response. "Okay..." Johnny said resignedly, "I think I'll go check, maybe something happened."

"I hate this day, really..." The japanese muttered, more to himself than anything, "okay, but try to be quick, we don't want to be late," he said watching Johnny simply nod before getting out of the car.

Johnny approached the car that was blocking the exit, noting that the driver's window was open. He stood in front of the door and saw someone _sleeping? resting?_ on the wheel. A man.

"Hey?" He said, “... you are blocking the way, is everything alright?"

The man didn’t reply. Johnny decided to knock the window.

"Hey!" His tone increased this time, "Do you need some help?" But quickly Johnny noticed that something was wrong. There was blood on the man's shirt.

"Oh my God," his first instinct was to try to get the man out of the car. Thank God the window was open. He slipped his hand to open the door quickly, took the man by the shoulder and lifted him off the wheel and—

He stepped back on impulse, “WHAT THE FUCK!?” 

“Johnny!?” Yuta was calling him, but Johnny didn’t answer. 

Yuta stared at Doyoung, “should I go check?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Doyoung replied quickly, looking perplexed. In all these years together, they never heard such a scream coming from Johnny.

“Okay. Right.” Yuta began to remove his seat belt. Hands shaking. _Why are you shaking?_

“I’ll go with you,” the younger one said said as he took off his seat belt too.

Yuta waved his hand in front of Doyoung, “no, no, no!” he said in a hurry, "you still look bad, you'll wait here. If I need you, I'll call your name, okay?" and he got out of the car abruptly. 

“Guys!!!” He heard Johnny’s voice, feeling a little relieved, “oh my god, what!” but he ran anyway.

He saw the other man, who was sitting on the ground, "what happened!?"

Johnny's eyes were wide and fixed on whatever was inside the car. Yuta walked to the open door, frowning unconsciously. He really didn't expect anything, his mind went blank. _What made Johnny scream so much?_ Out of the corner of his eye he saw a kind of blur. In front of him, Yuta regretted his own curiosity, because he saw the most horrifying thing he saw in his entire life. 

Flesh was swaying on a shapeless face. The man's cheeks were completely ripped. He had no nose. Yuta could also see his teeth. He wanted to vomit. He couldn't even scream, he just felt nauseous.

“Yuta?”

Yuta just stood there.

“Yuta, I don’t know what to do. What are we supposed to do? Should I call the police?”

_I don’t know either._

He couldn’t say anything, he couldn’t scream. But his mind was ringing. 

The blur was too close. 

_You have to move._

_Move your legs. Move your feet. Get out of here!_ _NOW!_

“JOHNNY STAND UP!” 

"What is that!?" The youngest asked in shock. No one answered him, because they didn’t know either.

"Johnny let’s go, let’s go!" Yuta yelled.

The said man pressed the accelerator in a hurry, "I know, but where!? The exit is blocked if you didn't notice!"

"I know, okay!? Damn, dammit, dammit, what the hell!"

"How— are you kidding me!?" Johnny screamed as he looked at something through the rearview mirror.

"What!?" Yuta looked back, the thing was catching them. Johnny began to drive in circles around the parking lot.

“That shit is fast, what the fuck!?"

"We have to go!" Doyoung said from behind, "Let's go to the elevator!"

"Right, the elevator!" _I forgot the elevator!_ "You are a genius!"

"Okay, hold on to your seats, I'm going to speed up!" Johnny ordered. First they had to leave the humanoid behind. He kept driving in circles. If Yuta wasn't feeling nauseous enough, he was now.

“Okay, last lap! Get ready to run!”

The car stopped abruptly and they ran to the elevator. He didn't know if it was a miracle or something, but the elevator was still there. The doors opened for them and Yuta quickly pressed the button for the 5th floor. They saw an arm trying to reach them. The door was closing. _Are we safe?_ He didn’t relax, not even a little. He prayed that no one would call the elevator, he was ready to press the close button in case something was waiting for them outside. But nothing happened. The door was open on the 5th floor now. No one was there.

"Come on, go, go!" Johnny was leading their steps.

Yuta swore he heard a loud knock coming from inside his neighbor's door. He kept running. Their apartment was right there.

Inside their apartment, Yuta tried to process what happened down there. But he didn’t find any logical explanation. 

He felt something come out of his throat.

"Yuta, what’s happening to you?" He heard.

Then he realized that he was laughing, “I just-” and he couldn’t stop himself, “this— this is ridiculous, what is this? Are they filming us or something? Maybe that’s why the managers didn’t answer to your calls,” he felt his own laughter starting to lessen, “maybe… maybe."

“Yuta, that’s—”

“What!?” He asked abruptly.

“I literally kicked that thing in with all I had!” Johnny continued, “A normal human wouldn’t have gotten up so fast.”

Doyoung looked from Johnny to Yuta, then broke the silence that filled the room after Johnny's words, "didn't you see anything on Twitter or something like that?" He asked, trying to reason about what was going on, "I didn't use social media today, so I haven't seen anything, but you are both always online... well, at least Johnny is."

"I didn't," Yuta replied, now sitting on the sofa in their living room, feeling a little calmer, "I practiced all morning, so I didn't."

"Me neither," said Johnny, "I was also focused on practicing."

"Okay, let's start from there then. Maybe we can find out if this happened here or... if something is wrong outside as well. Do you have signal?" Doyoung asked, looking at his own cell phone, "because I don't."

"I don’t," Johnny replied.

"Wait, I think I do, but it's poor," Yuta said, tapping the screen with quick fingers. 

He quickly opened Twitter and the first thing he saw—

"This is not okay..." He muttered, _what the fuck is going on?_

—was the word _Zombie_ trending worldwide. He couldn't breathe. It sounded ridiculous too.

"What? What did you see?" Johnny took the phone from Yuta's hands, "oh."

Yuta saw Johnny scroll down exasperatedly and he stood next to him, watching everything that appeared on the screen with horrified eyes. 

There were many videos with the hashtag #dontgooutside: people filming the scene on the streets from their windows, screaming as they watched other people run and be eaten alive. Johnny continued to scroll. People were filming _inside their houses —_ it made him think about the loud knock he heard minutes ago— asking for help, crying hopelessly, while someone or something growled in the background. "Somebody has to do something!" They said. Nobody knew how and when it all started. He couldn't believe what he was witnessing, but one thing was for sure: everything was fuked up.

"I—" Doyoung started, "I don't know what to say."

But Yuta remembered something, "wait, didn't you talk to Taeyong about half an hour ago?" He asked Johnny, remembering their conversation.

"Yes, I did…?"

Doyoung intervened, looking surprised, "didn't he say anything?" Yuta remembered then that the younger one wasn’t there when Johnny said that to him.

"No, he was still in the studio, Haechan and Taeil-hyung were still recording. He also said that they were going to wait for us on the first floor, because they were almost finished."

"Oh shit," Yuta said out of nowhere, "give me my phone."

"Why?" Johnny asked him.

"Because we have to talk to them! From what you said, I guess they had no idea what was going on outside," he was shifting his contacts, "we have to warn them!"

Yuta started calling them one by one, but no one answered. He feared the worst. _It’s too late. Maybe they already came out and something caught them._ He kept thinking. _Those things were too strong and fast, no one could survive. Not even Johnny, not even Jaehyun._

Jaehyun. 

Yuta opened his chats and there were no new messages from anyone. He typed in Jaehyun's name without thinking. Their conversation was empty, because Yuta deleted everything. He was sorry now, because he wasn't sure if he would ever receive any other messages from Jaehyun. Yuta, at that moment, forgot all the anger, all the misunderstandings. Everything seemed so pointless and childish now.

"Nothing?" Johnny asked, concerned.

"No, I’ll try to see if they are receiving messages, maybe everyone else outside is trying to call at the same time."

He sent messages to everyone. Taeyong, Jungwoo, Taeil, Mark, Haechan, and Jaehyun. He waited for some minutes. No one answered. Just a check from everyone. Only one check. But that didn't stop him from sending more. He kept sending and sending until his signal went off. 

“Nothing…” He said, letting out a tired sigh.

"What should we do now?" said Doyoung, and Yuta couldn't help but notice that Doyoung's voice sounded more tired than before. It made him think, but maybe he was being too paranoid?. He fixed his gaze on the youngest, who was looking increasingly pale as time passed. That was weird. 

"... Doyoung," he called the youngest, "you feeling good?" His eyes didn’t leave the other.

Doyoung stared back with confused eyes, "yes? I'm fine, I just need to get some rest."

"No, I mean, are you sure it's just a cold?"

"What?" Johnny had a questioning look, "Yuta—"

"Sorry, I just want to make sure. No one knows how this all started, so we don't know. I'm really sorry."

“It’s okay, don’t be sorry, you are right.” Doyoung replied, “but I’m sure. I literally fell asleep with wet hair two nights ago, that’s why I catched a cold. Dumb of me, I know.” He paused, “I didn’t know I looked that bad. I think I’m not feeling too good because, well, we had to run and everything.”

“True… Okay, it’s fine then, I just wanted to make sure,” Yuta replied, feeling genuinely sorry, “I think you should go to rest then, because you really look like shit,” Doyoung let out a little giggle so did Yuta, letting go the tension that was surrounding them, “also, I don’t think there’s nothing we can do for now. We should wait”

"I agree. All we can do now is wait until the signal returns," Johnny added, "and try to talk to the others."

Doyoung nodded, before slowly walking towards Yuta, "okay, so I'll go to my room to rest, but..."

"Hmm?"

"Take my phone, in case my signal comes back when I'm sleeping or something," Yuta accepted it and Doyoung left the room just after.

Yuta stayed there, on the sofa, along with Johnny. Waiting.

  
  
  
  


Time passed, too slow for his own taste, the signal coming and going. They tried to contact the others every time they had internet. The company. Their families. But nothing. Yuta watched his chats, hoping that at least someone would see his messages. He noticed that Mark’s and Taeil’s were delivered, but they didn’t see it. Yuta didn’t want to think about it anymore. He looked at the sky through the window, wondering if it was safer up there and never wanting to see the streets again.

_Osaka._

_Yuta was staring at the ceiling, too nervous to look at the man lying on the other bed next to him. Jaehyun was looking directly at him, he could feel it even if the lights were off. He was always staring at him after all._

_“You looked so happy today,” Jaehyun told him._

_“I was happy, I’m happy when I’m here,” he replied, sounding a little nostalgic._

_“I know, that’s why I love to come here too, to your home.”_

_Yuta felt something explode inside his stomach. Butterflies? Maybe. Whatever it was, it also exploded on his cheeks. Thank God the other couldn't see it._

_Jaehyun continued,_ _“I want to know more, more than I already do... about the culture, about your language, about everything. Do you want to teach me? Is okay if I ask you that?"_

 _Yuta wasn't sure if he wanted to reply, because he knew that any word he said would sound shaky. But he had to say something._ **_I really hate this man_** _,_ _he thought._

 _"Th—That’s—"_ **_Fuck_** _,_ _"That’s okay... you can ask me whatever you want," he tried to play it cool._

 _Jaehyun giggled, "o_ _kay, be prepared then," he paused before letting out a soft yawn, "shall we sleep now? We have to rest for tomorrow..._ "

_"Yes..." Yuta felt sleepy too. Being Jaehyun's roommate was ruining his sleep habits. He seriously, really, really, hated that man._

_“Goodnight, Yuta…”_

_“Goodnight…” He didn’t know when he fell asleep that night._   
  
  
  


He felt like it was morning again. Yuta began to stretch out on the sofa, letting out little groans.

"Oh, sorry Yuta, it was so dark here," he heard Johnny, who was about to sit on the sofa next to him, "I didn't want to wake you up."

 _What time is it?_ He asked himself, before realizing that—

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I fell asleep!" He stood up abruptly, but Johnny stopped him.

"Chill. You haven't slept too much lately, so you needed it. And also, I was awake, so don't worry," Yuta nodded and looked at him questioningly, "and, well, if you want to ask what I'm thinking, no, there's no news."

Yuta felt disappointed. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting anything else. Otherwise Johnny would have woken him up. But still, he just wanted to know if everyone else was okay too. 

He heard a loud yawn, “I can’t believe it’s night time already, I slept so much,” Doyoung said.

“Are you feeling better?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, a lot better,” He replied. Yuta remembered that he had Doyoung's cell phone, so he lent it to him silently. The other accepted it with a nod, “so, there’s no news I guess.”

“No...” 

“Okay,” he stared at the kitchen, "maybe we should eat something while we wait. Are you hungry?"

"Not really..." Yuta replied. He really wasn't hungry. He felt like the anguish was filling his stomach enough.

“I’ll cook anyway,” Doyoung ignored him. _He is just like that sometimes._ And he walked to the kitchen. Yuta saw him leaving, feeling relieved because, this thought crossed his mind, _at least he was with them._ _Johnny and Doyoung._

But just as he saw him leaving, he saw him return in a minute, looking... _excited? happy?_

_What?_

He was holding his... phone, “Jaehyun!?” 

Yuta stood up in a second. 

“Jaehyun, Finally! Where are you!? Are you with the others!? We tried to call you so many times! But the signal was too bad and—" he paused, “what? Taeyong!? Okay!” 

"Doyoung, turn on the speaker!" Johnny exclaimed, he seemed excited as well. So Doyoung turned it on, leaving the phone on the table in front of the sofa.

“ _Doyoung?_ ” Taeyong’s voice, “ _a_ _re you safe there?”_

“Yes! We are safe at home ”

“ _We? Who else is there? Are... Yuta and Johnny there... with you?_ ”

“Yes, they are—” He watched Yuta’s and Johnny’s expressions, so he asked too,“and what about you? Where are you? Are you all together?”

There was a long pause, “ _Hmm..._ " It made Yuta feel anxious, “ _I'_ _m with Jungwoo... Mark, Haechan... Jaehyun…that’s… all_.”

“That’s all?” Johnny asked, uneasy, “what about Taeil-hyung? Did he go somewhere else?”

 _Taeyong paused again. “No… Hm…_ ” 

They stared at each other. Yuta guessed from the silence what the answer could be. And he didn’t want to hear it. 

“ _I’m so sorry…_ ” Taeyong was crying, “ _we couldn’t… we couldn’t save him, I should’ve done something…_ ”

Yuta was holding back his own tears. He didn't know what to say, his heart ached for so many reasons, _Taeil is gone? Taeil is dead?_ He couldn’t believe it. It was too much. Too much. But he had to stop his thoughts, his feelings. Just right there. Because now he was also afraid of losing this opportunity to speak to them. They tried to contact them all day. They waited for hours. So he tried to focus on that. He’ll cry later.

He continued the call, “so where are you?” He noticed that his own voice sounded a ittle shaky, “you didn’t tell us.”

“ _Ah, we are…_ ” It was Jaehyun's voice now. Yuta assumed that Taeyong was no longer able to speak,“... _on the same building... What about you? Oh—"_ A pause, “ _At home, right? Are you safe there?”_

Yuta remembered the nightmare in the parking lot, “yes, we are…” he said, "what about you? Are you safe? Do you have food?”

“ _Hm…_ ” Jaehyun cleared his throat, “ _t_ _hings... are a little complicated here._ "

“Why?” Yuta began to frown.

" _Because... there are some complicated people here... And we really don't have food or water. We had, a few hours ago, we also had light... but everything was cut... at least we managed to recharge our batteries... ah, and, I mean, we have some snacks from the vending machine... but people joined us during their day, some employees, I don't know... we can't go to the cafeteria either... there must be some... zombies? also... and, also, here with us, there is a man... and he’s just- you can’t deal with him, he thinks he is the leader or something... I want to hit him in the face so badly, if only he—... well, it doesn’t matter anymore…_ ”

“What? Did something happen?”

“ _Hm… yeah, but I’ll tell you another time…_ "

**_Another time._ **

Johnny chimed in, “Jaehyun,” startling Yuta for a moment, “then, what can we do for you?”

“ _Johnny…_ ”

But Taeyong replied instead, “j _ust stay_ safe." 

“ _Yeah…_ ” Jaehyun continued, “w _e’ll try to figure out here… we’ll try to come back to you... so stay safe, okay?”_

Johnny replied with a resigned voice, “... okay.” 

“ _Oh, also… before we go, have you talked with someone else?_ ” 

“No, we tried to talk to everyone, but no one replied,” continued the older one. 

“ _Okay... so Haechannie... he talked to the boys, our dreamies, and they were fine... apparently they're in their dorm, since they didn't have a morning schedule... but we don't know anything about Kun and the others... so, yeah, I thought you would like to know...”_

“Yes, thank you for telling us. And me too, I don’t know anything about them either. I tried to call Ten but he didn’t answer my calls.”

“Okay..." Jaehyun sighed through the speaker, " _I_ _think we should go... we have to save our batteries—_ "

"Jaehyun!" Yuta called out his name in a hurry, just the thought of him cutting the call was scary, "wait, I—"

" _Hmm?_ " Yuta picked up the phone and gave Johnny and Doyoung a questioning look. They just nodded, so he ran down the hall.

" _Yuta, are you there?"_

"Yes! Jaehyun, don’t go yet! I have to tell you something—”

But Jaehyun didn't let him finish, “ _Yuta_..." he increased his tone, " _Yuta! Me too, I have to tell you something-"_

“What? Wait—”

 _"I’m sorry... I'm_ _really sorry... I didn't mean any of that—_ ”

“No, Jaehyun!” why was Jaehyun the one apologizing, _again._

 _“—Of what I said the last time... I made many mistakes in my life... but you could never be one of them…_ ” Jaehyun's voice sounded so broken, “ _I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..._ "

Yuta breathed, "Jaehyun..." he tried to calm himself down, trying to find the right words, "okay, it’s okay, I was wrong too,” he tried to calm Jaehyun as well, “I hurt you too. And I'm sorry for that... But I need you to know that it wasn’t my intention, that I never wanted to play with your feelings."

“... _I know…_ ”

Yuta breathed again, a storm of emotions coursed through his body, impatiently asking to be released. He understood that it was the time, because maybe this would be his last chance to say it.

“I love you,” he paused, “and I’m sorry if it’s too late. I’m sorry I made you wait for so long...”

Jaehyun didn't reply for a few seconds. “ _No_ _... It’s okay, it’s not too late..._ ” Yuta could feel Jaehyun's breathy voice through the speaker, “ _I_ _love you too..._ "

Yuta smiled like a fool. Letting himself be happy for a moment, knowing too well that later that happiness was going to fade away. And he continued, “there’s a lot of things we have to talk about, but we’ll talk about it later… **another time** , right?" he said, little did he know that he was trying to convince himself, "so you have to stay safe... and come back to me. Okay, Jaehyun? Promise me that.”

Jaehyun didn't reply inmediatly, “yes," he said before a few seconds, " _yes,_ _I’ll come back to you, because you have to say those words in person..._ ” he ended, giggling. Yuta imagined Jaehyun's dimples popping up in his smile.

“ _… Yuta… I really have to go now._ ”

“Right,” Yuta didn’t want to let him go, ”Jaehyun…” But before he left, “If you can, can you send me an audio? You can say whatever you want. It can be just a short clip, I don’t mind. I just want to have something of yours there, your voice, in our chat.”

Jaehyun snorted softly. And Yuta continued, "and also, can you please... tell Taeyong that I'm sorry? I was a bit harsh with him. Tell him that I love him, that he will always be an important person to me."

“ _Okay.._." Jaehyun paused, " _did you hear that, Taeyong?”_

Yuta felt himself blush. He completely forgot that Taeyong was also there, “what!?”

_“Yep! I love you too, dumbass!”_

Yuta seriously hated that man. The two of them.

Jaehyun continued “ _Yuta… I’ll try to send you that clip…_ ” but he paused for a second. Yuta felt it like an eternity, “ _h_ _m… I’m going now,_ okay?…"

Yuta felt a knot in his throat, "okay, I’ll be waiting..." 

_"Okay... Goodnight, Yuta._ ”

“Goodnight, Jaehyun…”

And so the call ended. 

  
  
  


He sat down on the sofa, leaving the phone on the table and hugging Doyoung next to him. That night, they cried.

  
  



	4. We can live with our contrast (or not)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jaehyun, I know you can drive, so take this!" He reached out and handed Jaehyun some keys, "the keys of the van they brought us in, that man had them."

Jaehyun, as soon as he cut the call, sent a short audio to Yuta. However, after doing so, he just noticed the heavy atmosphere that was in the place. People were watching him. _I should have thought about this before_. Of course a phone with signal would attract people’s attention, everyone wants to communicate with their loved ones. 

Now he and Taeyong were surrounded by the people they were sharing the place with.

Certain things happened during the day. After returning with Haechan and communicating what happened to Taeil, people joined. Not too many, just five more people. People who escaped from other floors. They didn't even have time to think about what was happening, too busy blocking the stairs and checking the people who came, in case they had been bitten. That was just a guess based on fiction, of course. But reality seemed fictional too. And that realization was affecting not only them, but also the people around them. Jaehyun understood that in just one day people can lose their minds under an emergency situation. Because panic invaded the place throughout the afternoon, leading to discussions that increased with the lack of food, water and light. Everyone was worried about what would come next.

“You have signal? And you didn't tell anyone? Give me that phone!" Jaehyun raised his head and of course the guard was in front of him, extending his arm in his direction.

"Why should I? Don't you have one?" He blurted out without thinking.

It was a bad response, Jaehyun noted, because this person was definitely someone unnecessarily violent, "just give it to me!" The man said, kicking in the direction of Jaehyun, who was still sitting on the ground, leaning against the bottom of the window that looked outside. But that made him get up immediately, getting defensive.

Taeyong stood up quickly too, "what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm tired of you," said the guard, bringing his face close to Taeyong's, "I don't care if you are famous or what. From now on, I’m in charge here!"

Jaehyun didn't know what to say. Partly of him understood that people can lose control of themselves when they are in danger. But this was something else. That man hated them and it wasn't precisely because of the circumstances, but because he genuinely hated them. Of course they had clashes during the day too. The man didn't want more people to take shelter with them, the reasons were obvious, but Jaehyun and the others didn’t share the same ideas. That caused a lot of discussions.

Jaehyun scanned the room with his eyes quickly. He couldn't tell each person around him well, because of the lack of light and because it was already dark outside, but he could see the gleam of expectant eyes looking in his direction. He could also distinguish the figures of the people who worked with them as staff, in addition to those of Jungwoo, Haechan and Mark. However, he couldn't read what the intentions of people who weren't close to him were and that was a bit overwhelming.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to give you my phone. If you want to contact someone important, I could pass it to you. But that doesn't seem to be the case. You just want to bother me," Jaehyun replied, waiting for any possible reaction of that man. He knew he was taking a risk with that kind of response. He always considered himself as someone polite, always tried to treat people with respect, but this time he couldn't let himself be treated like that, much less with someone who was that violent.

However, as much prepared as he had been, the reaction was still unexpected. Jaehyun saw a fist pass quickly by his side, he thought for a moment that it was going to stop on his own face, but it didn't. He heard the sound of the window breaking on his left side and quickly saw how a lot of shiny pieces began to fall at his feet, generating an unbearable noise.

"Jaehyun!" He felt a grip on his right arm, someone abruptly pulled him away from the window. But another hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and Jaehyun could see the reflection of natural night light reflecting off the bloody piece of glass in the guard's hand, coming dangerously close to his neck.

The man in front of him seemed to have completely lost his mind. Jaehyun thought that would be his end. He was so shocked by the man's actions that he couldn't even react. But in the end he didn't need to react, because the man suddenly let him go. Plastic flowers flew in front of his eyes. Jaehyun fell onto his back, propelled by the distension of the guard's arm that had released him. Jaehyun heard people screaming. Someone had pounced on the guard, hitting him on the head with a vase. Screams of horror could be heard all over the place.

"I'm sick of listening to you!" Shouted the man who was on top of the guard, Jaehyun recognized him as the guy who was in the office next to the guard and the staffs. The one with the familiar face. "All day long I had to listen to you," with his hands he reached for an elongated piece of glass, "and I can't stand even hearing your voice anymore!" And over and over again, Jaehyun watched as the chunk sank into the guard's stomach and he couldn't look away, witnessing how the blood began to flow from his stomach and from his mouth, he was too close not to see it and not to listen to it clearly.

He was stunned, watching, until he felt how the arm that hadn’t released him from his grip began to pull him again, lifting him. Jaehyun didn't understand anything. But really, what was there to understand? People had lost their minds and he was beginning to lose it too. That, he felt it even more after what happened next. Jaehyun didn't realize he still had his phone in his left hand until he felt it vibrate. _Yuta_ , he thought, remembering that only a few minutes earlier he sent him the message he had requested. But he was wrong, it wasn’t Yuta. It was no one.

On the screen, completely covered in black, white letters stood out in the middle.

[YOU ARE HAVING FUN?]

_What?_ People kept shouting around him.

[...]

The message disappeared and another one quickly appeared. Jaehyun had his eyes glued to the screen.

[I RECOMMEND YOU TO GET OUT OF THERE. THINGS ARE GOING TO GET UGLY.]

[...]

_What the fuck is this?_

[10 MINUTES. GET OUT OF THERE BY THE EMERGENCY STAIRS. DON'T TELL ANYONE ELSE.]

_What!?_ Jaehyun didn’t know how to react. He started looking everywhere. Was someone watching them?

"Jaehyun? Why are you using your phone now!?”

He looked at his screen again. It was back to normal. It was blocked. Had he imagined it? He began to fill himself with questions. What had that been? What application was it? It was clearly not any of the social networks he was used to. He wasn't even sure if it was some normal phone feature.

"Hey, come back here! We have to do something, let's go with the others," Taeyong said as he watched him with concern and snapped his fingers in front of Jaehyun, "people are going crazy in this place. We have to go!"

Jaehyun looked at Taeyong suspiciously. But it was impossible, Taeyong was by his side the whole time. Maybe his own mind was playing tricks on him. However, the leader was right, things were out of control and they had to go. The question was, where to? Jaehyun remembered the messages. Sure, the emergency stairs, again. He looked towards his groupmates, and he felt very sorry when he noted that, if they were already sufficiently disturbed, they were now horrified. They definitely had to get out of there.

He was distracted for a moment and heard how people around them shouted, "you're crazy! Stop!" The man with the familiar face was being stopped by the people who had observed the situation, his hands covered in blood. Beside him was the body of the guard. But even if the man had been stopped, it was useless now. The static eyes and open mouth were proof that the man was already gone, he looked like a fish without oxygen. Jaehyun wondered if there was anything else to see. Every hour seemed to prove itself, showing that horror has many forms. It may be a creature, non human, ripping the flesh from your friends. Or, in this case, it can be a human, in all his rationality, taking the life of another person. Maybe not so rational after all.

"Yes," Jaehyun said, squeezing Taeyong's hand that was still on his arm, "we have to get out of here." There or outside, everything was dangerous. But at least they had to fight.

Taeyong collected the others. Jungwoo seemed to be alright, Jaehyun remembered the conversation he had with him during the day, when Jungwoo told him that he wasn’t strong. ‘ _You know I’m not strong, I just have to be strong now’,_ he said. But Mark and Haechan were freaking out.

Jungwoo and Mark took their belongings; Haechan had lost his bag when they escaped from the first floor. _The first floor,_ would they have to go back there? There was no other option, but the first thing was to get out of the place they were in at the time. Now he was walking to the stairs.

Someone took him by the shoulder, it was Taeyong, “Jaehyun, go with the others to the emergency door and remove the things we used to block the door. I'm coming in a minute!"

"Where are you going?"

"Just go!" said the leader, shoving him away and running back to where they came from.

He began to remove the furniture that had been placed on the door, to prevent something external from entering. Chairs and tables, he began to remove everything as fast as he could. Jungwoo, Mark and Haechan were lending out a hand to him. They heard screams from the hallway. Asking for help. ‘ _10 MINUTES,’_ he recalled. Where was Taeyong? And what was going to happen in ten minutes? Did he really imagined it? Maybe not, because after ten minutes he heard the same bestial scream he had heard on the first floor. Jungwoo, Mark, and Haechan, in that order, started going outside. Jaehyun looked to the side. Taeyong came running and behind him a figure was chasing him. He couldn't see much under the light of the moon, but he could see the viscera hanging from the guard's open stomach.

"Taeyong, hurry up!" he yelled, preparing to close the door.

The creature was too fast, almost catching on the leader's heels. But Taeyong was surprisingly fast too.

Jaehyun, as soon as he could, took Taeyong's hand and pushed him inside. In a way they were at hand now. He heard how the creature began to hit the door tirelessly. They started to run down the stairs along with the members. His phone started vibrating again in his leg. He pulled it out of his pocket on impulse and the screen was black. _It was definitely not his imagination_. The new message left him even more disturbed.

[TAEYONG STAYS ON THE 3RD FLOOR. SOMEONE IS WAITING FOR HIM.]

_What does that mean?_ But Jaehyun didn't have time to process it.

"Wait, wait, wait," Taeyong screamed, "someone is calling me!" Jaehyun felt his eyes going wide. What was happening? "It can't be..." the leader muttered.

"What? Who is that? Who is calling you?" Jaehyun blurted out, unable to think and just wanting to confirm his assumptions.

“It's Ten..." Now it was Taeyong's turn to panic.

Jungwoo put his hand on the leader's shoulder, “just answer. No one is following us.”

Jaehyun looked back. Indeed, no one was coming for them. _What happened to the people who were upstairs? And with the guard?_ He began to feel guilty, because perhaps he could have helped them. But apparently it was too late to regret it.

Taeyong answered the call, "Ten!? Where are you? Are you okay?" The leader didn’t turn on the speaker. Jaehyun saw him nod many times and then noticed his eyes widen. "What? In a practice room? On what floor!? ”

_It can't be…_

"The third floor!?" Taeyong started going down the stairs again, running. The others followed him. "Are you with someone else?" He continued the conversation, fully focused, "and where is he now!?" They were on the 5th floor, Taeyong stopped, “fuck… but you are okay, right?” They continued running, "wait for me, I'm coming, just wait."

"What happened, Hyung!?" Mark asked, he was as confused as everyone there.

Taeyong put down the cell phone, “Ten is in this building! He came alone. I mean, no, with the manager. But he disappeared. So," he took a second to breathe, "he was just practicing. He said he was unable to leave the room, because he saw someone running towards him and heard people screaming in the hallway. I guess he's been there all day, trying to call everyone."

They kept going down. Third floor. The phone vibrated again.

[IT'S TIME TO SEPARATE PATHS.]

Jaehyun started to lose his mind.

"I'll go alone," Taeyong said after stopping at the door, "I can't let you guys expose yourself too."

"That doesn't make sense," said Haechan, running seemed to have awakened him from his trance, "you need us. Ten-hyung need us. If there’s something in the hallway, it’s impossible for you to just— ”

Haechan stopped. Everyone's expressions began to change. Footsteps were heard, coming from above, descending rapidly. There was no time.

"—Jaehyun!" Taeyong said hastily, completely ignoring Haechan's words, “Do you remember the man who killed the guard? Today we were introduced to him, I think you were not there, but he was supposed to be our new manager. He was supposed to take us home today— ”

The steps could be heard closer and closer. Were they human or were they something else?

"We can't leave you alone, you don't even have something to defend yourself—"

"We don't have time to discuss this!" The leader spoke, interrupting Jungwoo while shaking his hands, a movement that made a metallic sound produced by the object he was holding, "Jaehyun, I know you can drive, so take this!" He reached out and handed Jaehyun some keys, "the keys of the van they brought us in, that man had them."

Jaehyun took the keys, his hands were shaking, "but what are you going to do?"

"I’ll go after you, wait for me for a few minutes, as long as you can. If you can't, just go, I'll manage,” he directed his gaze at everyone, “just trust me.”

There were many things going through Jaehyun's mind. Whoever sent that message to him was right, their paths were going to separate now and it was uncertain if they would meet again. It was better to separate, Jaehyun knew that. Someone had to help Ten and that someone was Taeyong, regardless of how things had happened between them. Even if, whatever was between them, had ended months ago. Taeyong didn't want to have any regrets and that was fine. It was time for their leader to finally do the things he wanted to do, for himself.

He looked at Taeyong and could only nod. There was a lot to say, but somehow Jaehyun hoped that the leader understood everything as well as he did at the time. He was sure it was like that. Taeyong nodded back. He smiled at them all and disappeared behind the door. Now Jaehyun had to focus on something else. In going down the stairs, reaching the parking lot, looking for the van, hoping that nothing was waiting for them there and leaving. Just thinking about it, his head ached.

The four of them continued running.

  
  
  
  


Yuta cried a lot and lost track of time. He was still sitting on the couch with Johnny and Doyoung, he didn't know what time it was, he just knew it was still dark outside. He looked to the side, slowly, Doyoung was sleeping with his head resting on Yuta's shoulder. He wasn't quite sure, but apparently at some point Johnny fell asleep too. Or maybe he was just resting his eyes. Whatever it was, he seemed to be resting. But Yuta couldn't sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking. He was worried. For his family with whom he still couldn’t contact. His friends. His groupmates. For Jaehyun, Mark, Taeyong, Jungwoo and Haechan. For everyone.

He took his cell phone that was on the table, careful to not waking up Doyoung. Jaehyun had sent him a message, the audio he was waiting for. It was his voice, singing for a few seconds. Typical of Jaehyun. Yuta felt himself cry again. A silent cry. The previous conversation on the phone made him think about how easy it had been to apologize. How easy it was to put aside all resentment and say what you think. It was always very easy, but things between Yuta and Jaehyun, for some reason, had always been more complicated than they should have been.

When did it all go wrong? He remembered the last time he spoke to Jaehyun. ‘ _Maybe this was a mistake from the beggining’,_ Jaehyun had already told him that he never really thought about it, but maybe he was right after all. It wasn't exactly a mistake, but things didn't start out the best way— actually, did it even start? Yuta was never sure about what kind of relationship they had. He was sure of Jaehyun's feelings, and somehow accepted them. However, by himself, he always had fears that kept him from accepting Jaehyun completely. Because Yuta, from the beginning, was never interested in men like that. Or more like he wasn't sure. But Jaehyun was.

A lot of fuzzy memories began to run through his mind.

_Jaehyun kissing his hand, Jaehyun stroking it, Jaehyun staring at him and Yuta looking away._

_"It's my fault. I pushed things too hard between us. Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but there's nothing left to do. I just know I don't want to go through with this anymore, I can't take it anymore.”_

_Yuta thought Jaehyun had a kind of crush on him and was willing to avoid it as much as possible._

_"You think I didn't know what was going on between the two of you when no one else was looking?" Jaehyun looked down at the floor._

_“If you're still uncomfortable that I touch you, then tell me. I won’t do it anymore."_

_It was night in Brooklyn and Jaehyun asked him if he was feeling better. Yuta had a cold. He nodded, because he actually felt better. Jaehyun put his hand on his forehead, his face full of concern, and that made him smile._

_Yuta was feeling drunk, “do you like me, Jaehyun? Because sometimes I feel like I like you too.”_

_Taeyong took Jaehyun’s hand. Nobody else noticed, too focused on the game they were playing in group. But Yuta did. They left the room together, smiling._

_"Yes, I do. I love you. But it's okay if you don't feel the same way.”_

_Jaehyun was looking anywhere except Yuta. He started scratching the side of his nose with his thumb, “It was physical, I thought you were never going to like me back. We wanted to support each other in some way.”_

_Jaehyun was angry at him, he didn't even look him in the eye, "Is it fun for you to see me jealous? Are you enjoying it?" Yuta, in fact, was enjoying it. Because he felt loved._

_He wrapped his arms around Jaehyun's neck, the other ears turned red, “It's okay if you kiss me. We can kiss. At least I can do that.” Jaehyun's lips were softer than he thought. He was being consumed little by little._

_"No, it's not like that," Yuta said, removing Jaehyun's hand that had slipped under his shirt, "it's just that, I don't know if I'm ready yet."_

_Yuta was certain of one thing: he didn’t want to share Jaehyun with anyone. He was jealous of everyone. Maybe he liked Jaehyun more than he thought._

_He was definitely in love. However, he only realized when Jaehyun no longer wanted him around. "We can pretend this never happened and go back to normal," Yuta didn't know what to answer, because what was normal between them? Whatever it was, he didn't want that normality, “it's fine if you don't want to talk to me, if you feel uncomfortable. But for my part I will try to act as always, I don't want this to harm the group.” Jaehyun left the room and Yuta cried all night._

_And so he did, he began to act normal, but not with Yuta, but with the others. He only spoke to him when the others were there too. It was understandable, but still, Yuta was tired. Tired of knowing that Jaehyun was spending most of his free time on the 5th floor. Tired of Taeyong being on his side and not in Yuta's. Tired of not being able to leave home to clear his mind. Tired of being left at the end of the chain over and over again even at work. Tired of not being able to shout what bothered him. Tired of everything._

Yuta put his cell phone down on the table again, Doyoung stirred. He seemed to be waking up.

In the present, the whole past seemed imaginary. He put his hands on his face and sighed.

He was afraid now, not only for himself, but for the people he loved. He remembered Taeyong's words, ‘ _just stay safe,'_ they told them. But how could he be calm by being safe by himself? Anguish was consuming him.

"What time is it?" Doyoung said, stretching out his arms.

But Yuta didn't answer his question, because he couldn't being worried, "can't we do something?" He said, suddenly getting up from the sofa and making Doyoung take a small jump in surprise. Yuta began to wander slowly through the place.

Doyoung looked up and laid eyes on him, "something like what?"

“Something like going for them, helping them get back here. They don't even have food, how can they survive?”

"Helping who?" The youngest seemed not to have woken up yet.

"The others!"

"Oh..."

Johnny let out a heavy sigh, he had indeed been awake the entire time, "I don't feel calm either." He said, rubbing his face with his hands, "I feel useless being here, knowing that they are out there, exposed to the same thing that happened to—"

“No, you don't need to say it,” Yuta interrupted, knowing that if he were reminded again, he would cry, “but you're right, I also feel useless. If we stay here, we are going to be able to survive, but they are not.”

Doyoung laced his fingers together and straightened up on the couch, “you two know that's not a good idea, right? If they told us that they preferred us to be here, it must have been for something. I'm worried too, but honestly, remembering what happened down there, I don't think we can do much.”

"But maybe if we have something to defend ourselves with," Yuta replied, stopping in the middle of the room, "maybe..." but he didn't know what else to say. Doyoung was right after all.

"I know you are worried," Doyoung continued, "but before caring about them, perhaps we should think about things here."

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked.

Doyoung shrugged a little, “well, when I went to the kitchen I realized that we don't really have too much food. We were supposed to receive it this week, but, well it doesn't seem possible anymore. I think we should ration it.”

"Oh."

Yuta then began to remember, “ah, but, we have some food upstairs. Some ramen and other things, we have quite a few things actually. Maybe if we put everything together—”

"You're not thinking of going upstairs, are you?" Johnny chimed in.

Yuta raised an eyebrow, “what's wrong, Johnny? Weren't you the one who agreed with me about not staying here doing nothing a few minutes ago?”

"I was, and still am, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous."

"Johnny is right," Doyoung interrupted them, his face showing that was getting pissed too, "actually, I don't know if you heard it too, but when we came here I heard a noise."

 _Oh,_ Yuta thought, _It wasn't my imagination then,_ "...I think I know what you mean."

"What noise? What did you hear?"

"The neighbor's door, Johnny. When we passed outside something was hitting it. And knowing how things are, I don't think it was human.”

Yuta stood for a moment, thinking, and then sat down next to Doyoung again, “okay, but let's think, it's inside the apartment. I don't think anything will happen to us.”

“Oh, I understand,” Johnny replied, “I didn't hear anything, but if so, they are a complete family, Yuta. And when they convert, they are strong, you witnessed it. I'm sure they could knock down a door if they wanted to.”

_‘If they wanted to’?_

“But there’s something I still don’t understand,” Yuta and Johhny stared at Doyoung, questioningly, “why did they knock on the door when we walked outside? For the noise? For the smell? Because they couldn't see us, that's for sure.”

"It's true... There has to be a reason why they react. Oh—” Johnny stopped his words abruptly and began to frown, “there’s something else. Do you remember the guy down there, Yuta?”

"How could I not?"

"No, but not the one who chased us, but the one in the car."

Immediately the image of the disfigured face returned to his mind, "oh, yeah…"

"What guy?" Doyoung asked.

“You didn't see it, but the guy who was blocking the exit was attacked by something. His face was completely eaten. Just remembering it makes me shiver.” Yuta couldn't help but feel chills too, it was all too confusing. Johnny continued, "but I don't understand, why didn't he attack us too? I'm sure he had been there for a some time."

"I don't get it either," Doyoung replied, "wait, I really don't know how to process all of this." The number of times they had all sighed were already countless.

They were silent and Yuta threw himself back, laying his head on the back of the sofa. He really appreciated that Doyoung and Johnny were with him, otherwise his impulsive nature might have led him to some scenario that could be deadly. He hadn't stopped to think about how the zombies acted, but now that the clues were on the table, he started trying to make sense about everything. Why did the neighbor's door got knocked if they can't see them? And why didn't the guy in the car attack them? It was confirmed that it wasn't related to sight, because the guy in the parking lot also had no eyes. So perhaps Doyoung's assumptions could be correct and there was some relationship to the other senses, specifically about hearing and smell.

"Oh," Johnny's voice interrupted Yuta's thoughts, "Yuta, I think you got a message or something, your screen turned on.”

Was it Jaehyun again? Maybe something had happened in the place. He reached out to the table in front of him, since he left his phone there. Yuta hoped that nothing too serious had happened. No more serious than it already was.

He fixed his eyes on the screen and it seemed strange to see it suddenly go out. It turned black. Perfect, his phone had broken at the worst time. He tapped it with his knuckles. The screen lit up again.

_Black background, white letters._

[YOU DO SMELL DELICIOUS, BUT DON'T BE SCARED. BETTER DON'T BE SCARED.]

[...]

Yuta opened hIs eyes more than ever.

[EITHER WAY, THE 10TH FLOOR SOUNDS BETTER. GO THERE.]

Yuta stood up from his seat again. He started to panic and look everywhere. Was someone spying on them? Someone was definitely spying on them!

“Yuta? What’s wrong?" Doyoung sounded worried. He got up and put his hand on Yuta's shoulder, "Is there any bad news?"

"Someone is spying on us!"

Johnny, confused, asked, "what?"

"Look at this!" Yuta held out his phone, showing to Doyoung the phone screen, "someone is listening to what we are talking about!"

"What?" Doyoung frowned, looking at the screen closely and pressing it with his index finger, “Wait, you have a message from Jaehyun! Did he say something to you!?”

"Jaehyun? What are you—” Yuta fixed his gaze on the screen again. He felt a distant noise, but he didn’t care. The letters were gone, only the notification of the message that he had already opened from Jaehyun, three hours ago, was seen. Three hours ago? At what point did time pass so quickly? And why had the message on his screen disappeared? Yuta felt his chest tightened, "I don't understand what's going on." He lowered both arms, leaving them at his sides.

Doyoung stroked his back with his hand, trying to reassure him, "can you tell me what's going on? If Jaehyun didn't tell you, then why do you think someone is spying on us?”

"I don’t know."

“Yuta, it’s the second time that you lose your shit. What's going on?"

"I don't know, Johnny!" he removed Doyoung's arm from his back, "I think I'm just not feeling well."

"I get it. Maybe you should rest. Anyway, I think that—"

All three froze. Suddenly a loud noise, coming from the door of the apartment, flooded the entire space. Yuta turned to the door. One after another the blows began to increase. Guttural screams began to be heard from the hallway. He felt his body go cold. The noise he had ignored must have been his neighbor's door being knocked down. The blows were too strong.

“Fuck, they are here!?” Johnny screamed, "we have to stop them, let's block the entrance!"

But perhaps it was too late. How strong were those creatures that the door hinges, which they always considered too secure, immediately began to loosen? Yuta started to despair, they couldn’t stay still. He turned to look at Doyoung, who was paralyzed behind him. And he decided he had to move, fast.

"Let's move the sofa! Maybe we can block the entrance before they enter!” Yuta was already next to the sofa, holding one of the sides. Johnny quickly got to the other side and Doyoung, finally reacting, reached out to help.

Between the three of them they carried the sofa toward the door that started to loosen under the pressure of the creatures, little by little. They pulled the sofa closer and began to push until the door was close, but the external pressure was very strong.

"How many people lived in that apartment!?" Yuta asked, almost screaming.

"I don't know—" Yuta started to push as hard as he could, Johnny continued, "keep pushing, heck! I don't know, maybe four people? I think it was the husband, his wife, his oldest son and a kid.” That explained the shrill screams that were heard. The boy. Yuta felt like crying again. He kept pushing, but he wasn't sure how much more they could hold. Why had the door suddenly been attacked? Did they have any level of consciousness?

Doyoung, in his tired and exalted voice, expressed an idea, “Johnny, you have nothing to defend us? Haven't you kept some exercise stuff in your room? At this point I think we can only defend ourselves!”

Things were really at a critical point if Doyoung was willing to fight, Yuta thought.

"Oh yes, I do! In my room, but how do I get them now?”

"I’ll go," Doyoung replied, "you guys are stronger, keep pushing!”

Yuta's muscles started to hurt. The sofa wasn’t enough to help them. How could they be so strong? Had they not been human too? Perhaps they, contrary to what Yuta was feeling, did not feel any kind of pain in their muscles. Nor did they get tired. But still, how.

"Okay, this is all I found!" Doyoung carried in his arms two bats and some weights. Weren't those the things Haechan had brought into the apartment without the staff permission? For the first time Yuta appreciated one of Haechan's ‘bad’ traits. ‘ _It's just a ‘souvenir’, they won't notice,'_ he always said. Yuta picked up one bat, letting go of the sofa grip. There was no point in holding on, the zombies weren’t going to give in. Doyoung kept the other bat, his hands were shaking. When Yuta saw him tremble, he noticed that he was also trembling and not precisely because of the tiredness of his muscles. Death was too close, threatening them.

Johnny was still pushing the sofa toward the door, "are you ready?"

_No._

"Yes," Yuta clenched the bat tightly in his hands, trying to encourage himself, "I'm ready."

Johnny released his grip on the sofa and picked up one of the weights Doyoung had dropped on the floor. The sofa moved quickly and arms began to peer out from behind the dislodged door. Yuta's pulse increased.

"Let's try hitting them and dodging them, then let's try running towards the elevator," Johnny looked at Yuta out of the corner of his eye, "Yuta, you have the key to the apartment upstairs, right?"

Yuta recalled the message on the black screen of his phone, _‘THE 10TH FLOOR SOUNDS BETTER.’_

"Yes, it's in my pocket."

"Okay," this time Johnny looked directly at Doyoung, "easy, let's get out of this togheter. But we have to be united. We'll be fine." The youngest nodded.

It seemed as if Johnny, in addition to relieving others, was trying to relieve himself.

The door fell flat on the couch. There were the four members of the family. The scene was indescriptible. They began to climb desperately on the couch. They didn't seem to be conscious at all. Their limbs seemed to move on their own, too loosened, perhaps from the force they exerted on the door. Still, that didn't stop them from moving forward. Yuta couldn't help but fix his eyes on the boy, his cheeks were bitten. It was much faster than the others. Everything happened in seconds, or less than a second. They were paralyzed, waiting to receive the first attack. Maybe they should have tried to move forward first, to try to escape as soon as possible, but it was too late. Yuta could feel the mother's breath in front of his face. He screamed. His arms moved by themselves. And he kept screaming, to give himself strength, to scare away the zombies. For whatever it was, he could only scream and shake his arms, hoping that he was hitting strong enough to knock down the creature that extended its arms towards him and grabbed its wrists tightly. 

But he must have known that his strength wasn’t enough. In fact, he already knew it, he knew it since he had that meeting in the parking lot. That he wasn't strong enough to knock them down. But he had to keep trying.

"Shit, no!" Yuta heard Johnny scream, but he couldn't get distracted. He couldn't look the other way or it would be his end.

 _Am I really going to die like this?_ He thought as his body moved on its own, struggling to survive. His mind began to disconnect. He saw the faces of his family and friends in Japan pass over his eyes. The creature began to bite the bat in front of him as Yuta tried to push it with all his might. He saw the faces of the other members, their bosses, even the staff. And Jaehyun. At least there were no regrets anymore. But he knew that there were things that he would have liked to repair earlier. He would have liked to see him one last time, without anger or superficial problems. His ribs ached, perhaps from the pressure of the creature hands that were beginning to bury into Yuta’s flesh. Yuta didn't know, but he kept screaming. For physical pain and fear.

"Yuta!" He thought he heard a voice that was neither Johnny's nor Doyoung's, "keep pushing, Yuta!"

The air was beginning to leave his lungs. It hurt a lot. Everything around him looked black, except for the creature in front of him that he could still see clearly.

He heard a thud and blood began to fall on his face. For whatever reason the force he was putting on the bat was now enough to push the zombie woman away from him. Another thud and he saw the woman's head bounce and release the grip of his teeth on the bat, watching her fall to the side. His ribs were no longer being pressed. Yuta began to distinguish the colors within the place again. He closed his eyes, a gesture to try to regain his sight, and felt a grip on his arm, lifting him up.

Yuta opened his eyes.

Jaehyun?

Jaehyun was dragging him by the arm, while affirming one of the weights, now covered by blood, that Doyoung had left on the floor before. Jaehyun was there, but how?

“Yuta, wait outside! Go to the elevator!” Jaehyun released his arm and Yuta saw him run towards Johnny, who was being helped by Haechan, pushing the father of the family and the child. He looked to his other side and Mark was lifting Doyoung off the floor while Jungwoo was pushing the older son. He heard a growl. The woman from before was beginning to stir on the floor. How was she still alive?

"Yuta, the elevator!" Jaehyun yelled again and Yuta reacted immediately, leaving the door in seconds and crossing the hall. He heard footsteps behind him. He called the elevator. He realized that he still had the bat affirmed with his right hand. Mark, Jungwoo, and Doyoung were by his side. The doors opened. They began to enter one by one, but Yuta continued to look down the hall. Johnny and Haechan were walking, the tallest holding on to the shorter's shoulder.

"Where's Jaehyun!?" Yuta yelled looking at Johnny who wasn't looking in good shape.

Haechan replied, breathless, “he's coming after us! He kept holding the door so I could help Johnny-hyung to escape.”

Then Yuta saw Jaehyun's head appearing down the hall, running. Yuta entered the elevator, holding the door open with his hand, for Jaehyun to enter so he could press the close button immediately. Jaehyun was at the elevator door, but he wasn't coming alone. The father was behind him, affirming him by the arm. Yuta squeezed the bat in his hand and made the gesture to hit him, but was interrupted by a leg that passed by his side, from Johnny, pushing the man and freeing Jaehyun, who didn't waste any second and immediately entered the elevator. Yuta pressed the button and the doors closed.  
  
  
  
  
  


As soon as they entered the apartment, they decided to pile up as much furniture as possible in the door, hoping that nothing like what happened downstairs would happen again. They sat on the floor, catching their breaths and remaining silent for a few minutes. Too shocked to do something else. Yuta's ribs still hurt a lot, but he didn't have time to keep thinking about that when Johnny broke the silence on the place.

"I'm not," he started to say and paused, hesitantly, "I'm not sure what this implies, if it's like, you know, like in the movies. But I have to tell you something."

Everyone set their eyes on Johnny expectantly. Yuta's mind was actually going blank.

"What happened?" Mark asked, the wait was eating them all away.

"The boy down there made me very doubtful and—" he cleared his throat, "he was a kid, I couldn't defend myself immediately, because..." Johnny looked down, "he was just a kid." 

Yuta remembered feeling the same when he saw the small figure climbing up the sofa. It was horrifying. But at the same time, it was sad.

Jaehyun, who was next to Johnny, put an arm around his shoulders, "tell us what happened." He said, in a calm tone. Somehow they all knew what happened to Johnny already.

Johnny let out a heavy sigh, “I was bitten. The boy bit me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Remember to leave comments or kudos or whatever<3


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